Wetherspoon has worked with Traveller groups to review its employee training.
Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

The pub chain Wetherspoon is backing a campaign to raise awareness of discrimination that Gypsies and Travellers face in accessing bars and restaurants.

The company previously admitted that Travellers had been racially stereotyped by staff in its pubs. In 2015, Wetherspoon paid out £3,500 each to three people after staff at its Cambridge pub the Tivoli barred them from entering because of their ethnicity.

The same year, the pub was ordered to pay £24,000 damages after being found guilty of racially discriminating against a group of Travellers in November 2011, when they were prevented from entering the Coronet pub in north London.

On Monday, Tim Martin, the founder and chairman of Wetherspoon, said he had met with representatives of the Traveller Movement – a charity that provides support to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community in the UK – to discuss the issue.

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“We were pleased to welcome representatives from the Traveller Movement and Equality and Human Rights Commission at our head office. We have been working closely with them in developing our employee training on this issue and support the campaign,” he said.

Jim Davies, equality and social justice unit manager for the Traveller Movement, said: “Being refused entry or service is a problem which blights the lives of Gypsy and Traveller people throughout the country.

“This form of discrimination should not be tolerated in any civilised society, so it is heartening to see that an industry leader such as Wetherspoon is taking such a positive stance on the matter. The Traveller Movement commends Wetherspoon for their efforts in raising awareness of this issue.”

In the wake of the discrimination claims in 2015, Wetherspoons said it was carrying out a review of its training and policies to make sure staff complied with legal requirements.

Martin said the two cases were the only occasions on which the company had been accused of discrimination against Travellers since the chain was founded in 1979.